Dear all; here we go for a little chaotic dev diary . You will find below all infos i have gathered about the project. Once again, you may find it blurry, but have tried to make it as clear and transparent as possible, according we are not professional team and trying our best to make this project better step by step.
Many things happened these last month, and in both side of this project ( player and RoR team ) we have all experienced demotivation, frustrations, and doubts. No need to remember all of this started on a blank page, without any original sources from the old original server. But look. So many things done in some years, with a so small team.
To begin with, i would like to talk about all issues you can experience ingame (balance, empty bags..., very long RvR campains, yadayada). We are aware 100% of this. If we don't fix it, you must understand thats not because we consider it is intended, or it isn't important. We don't fix it atm cause :
- We probably haven't resources to proceed. OR
- We are working on substition systems and it takes lot of time. OR
- We absolutely don't know how to deal with it atm.
If everything was easy, consider everything would be done and we would share your enjoyment ingame, and not behind the curtain.
Some consider everything should be deployed LIKE on the original server. I don't share this opinion. Mostly because we all have a very specific version of the original server. Personnally, i don't want to see Skavens AS on original, i don't wanna see RR100 gear AS on original, i don't wanna experience empty capital siege AS on origina, and don't wanna talk about LOTDl...
Actually if i should give a stupid value, let consider we have made 20% of the work. Maybe less. RoR is a dual project, in one hand, the private server and in the other a 200% work in progress emulator. Sadly you must keep this in mind permanently cause thats a fact. I don't know any other Private server having this kind of configuration (usually, Emudev and PServer are 2 separate things). Thats a real chalenge for all of us (you included), and once again, our purpose is it do things in the better possible way.
Now, some small notes about the different part of dev. What is planned and what is in progress.
[RoR team]
Spoiler:
Time is running out, and team members come in or come out. We will probably proceed to some recruitment after September to complete some dpt of the project. More info will come later.
Wargrimnir - The GM team has finished this phase of recruitment. We're going to get these guys trained up and re-evaluate our needs in the near future. Say hello to your new GM's!
EU Primetime
Miszczu
keblock
sgomberoni - AKA Crotgu in-game
NA Primetime
Penril - Will also resume his post as a Balance Forum Mod
Bacta
[Adblocker]
Spoiler:
I must thank you to accept to remove your adblocker. Because of this, project's cost has been minimized and is near to be self-funded.
[Newsletter]
Spoiler:
Since its early beginning, we have a base of 150 000 potential players (according accounts created on the forum). Most of them are gone during T1 phase, some later. We are planning to do after September a big Newsletter, to invite all those who have left months ago to come and see. We don't expect to see all these potential players coming back and enjoy, but for the first time in RoR history, we will expand our communication system.
[Patcher] (Work in progress)
Spoiler:
The team is actually testing the new patcher. It is still quite buggy and needs some improvements. When done, we will be able to deploy it. Summertime doesn't help to work on this very specific part.
[Class balance] (Work in progress) (by Torquemadra)
Spoiler:
Hating players. More seriously, many part of this work are patcher dependent. It is a bit frozen actually. CeGee is working on the pet class changes and will be (hopefully) helping (but it still depends on patcher).
[RvR mechanic] (by Yaliskah)
Spoiler:
As you may have probably seen and tested, T1 has been reworked. This part is not completely finshed and need some little things must be developed to complete and close this part (new quest handlers, an addon to make it more readable). We always take an eye on it to tweak major values (capping BO, resource collection) and bring to this tier the rhythm needed to be fun and incentive.
When finished, we will focus on higher tiers, to give this particular beat and try to lift the actual heaviness we can experience during campaign. 2 separates projects are actually on rails. I ask you to be OPENMINDED and CONFIDENT in my self judgment before reading below.
1- DOOM's DAYS event (work in progress)
This mod will be tested as an event, and... who know, if it works and if you enjoy it, may be deployed permanently. The purpose of this event will be an attempts to involve all lvl16+ players in the same big campaign, starting in T2 all pair opened, to T4. You may think i'm mad, i will answer i'm not . If well tweaked, this would solve lot of issues we experience on war since always ( empty tiers, failing debolster system, NA population AND more than 1 zone opened at a time).
2- T2+ RvR rework (blueprint ready, to be started asap)
It is a deeper and longer work. This one is in the continuity of the T1 rework (meaning you will find T1 basics + higher tier specific changes). Its purpose it to bring lot of rhythm and give to any topology of players (solo, group, wb, zerg, specific classes) options to influence the campaign. It will be an attempt to infuse something more nervous, violent and incentive in the global mechanic.
These 2 projects will take some time before we deploy them, mostly because it is summertime and dev forces are limited.
I would like to involve in many ways guilds in campaigns too, but this will come much much later, mostly because we are unable actually to work on it and nothing in the actual mechanic justify it. µMany little things have to be explored to bring more options in campains, but if the ideas seems to be fun, i am still thinking about how to include it in the global mechanic : (renegades : virtual 3rd faction).
Note i don't talk about rewards, gear or loot roll. These elements can't be relevant unless we have an efficient mechanic but... read below...
[RvR roll for bags on lock] (no dev started) (by Yaliskah)
Spoiler:
Eheh... yes. A project is planned. Just need a dev to work on it. When done, it will be tested in first place in T1. The purpose of this project is to make the reward on lock more "personal" (no limited amount of rewards, doesn't mean more rewards) and less "random" (depending on your participation vs average contribution).
[Gear] (by Wargrimnir)
Spoiler:
Marketplace using the new class-specific PvP currency. Trading trinkets for treasures and hidden gems for various rarities of items you might not get otherwise. This will tie in with the chapter vendors, as they will be selling their influence gear for PvP currency as well. Your currency bags will be very full. Rare vendors tucked away in the corners of the city will have fluctuating sales of rare items from time to time as well.
Annoying? Probably. Easier than grinding? Maybe!
Onslaught set for Ch22 Hard Public Quests. Good stuff, in the same power range as Annihilator/Beastlord/Conqueror. Defensive tank sets, Damage-y DPS sets, Healer-heal sets, and RDPS blowing holes in you as usual. Oh, and we mean the Hard Public Quests. A bit of tweaking in the database and we were able to separate out exactly which PQ's will have the set, so don't bother trying to cheese the Easy/Normal ones.
Beastlord: Season Two. The gear stays the same, but the battles are going to be shifting around. New quests will be introduced to different characters in the world, and new lair bosses will be hunted. We're going to be doing this for as many lairs as we can find until there's a questline for each of them. Then the bosses will be able to switch in and out more randomly. Since it's a pretty good set (says the guy that made it), hopefully we will see this stuff being picked up long into the future.
[Instances] (by Grunbag)
Spoiler:
Dungeons State :
- Fixed an issue causing GO and NPC to not spawn in dungeons .
- Sewers (3 wings), sacellum (3 wings) Gunbad, Bastion Stairs and ToVL have their NPC and GO correctly spawned .
- Sewers/sacellum doors and portals are done , and all NPC abilities are listed for those dungeons .
- All dungeons mechanics are listed
- VFX and GO animation are fixed (for exemple : ToVL trap)
WIP :
- Next thing i'll look into is Gameobjects Interaction (for example : interact with a lever open a door) and bosses phases scripting.
- Fixing Dungeons PQ (Starting with Mount Gunbad)
What I am waiting for to release the first dungeons :
-Pathfinding
-Multiple Instances
NO ETAs
[PvE] (by Hargrim)
Spoiler:
I'm mostly the Quality of Life and PvE guy, as I'm not that good at PvP in this game so I leave it to people that are better at it.
My main focus now is Advanced and Epic PQs, NPC abilities, Dungeons and scripted stuff inside them (bosses with fun abilities, traps, interactibility). I'm daily bombarded by Torques ideas and small improvements and if you'll look in recent patch notes you will see stuff like animated objects in game, sounds and famed Butchering / Scavenging corpse removal after you take stuff that you need.
I also dabbled in Doomsday event mentioned by Yali, hopefully you will like it.
[Events] (by Razielhell)
Spoiler:
Expect an event in the next Weeks(NO ETA) for both sides with some search quests and Boss killings in the end.
I can only give you a hint about rewards and nothing else since i'm still working on it and don't want to spoil anything. Keep in mind that these are only thoughts and rewards may change until Event is ready.
Rewards :
(White Owl/RoR Aegis/28lvl talismans for Order/Event accessory awards)
(Unknown/RoR Aegis/28lvl talismans for Destruction/Event accessory awards)
[Wiki] (by Lhéana)
Spoiler:
Now let's talk about RoR Wiki! Most of you must have noticed a RoR Wiki has been created few months ago (if you did not, it is on the top of your screen, between 'Forum' and 'Who's online' ). Its goal is to gather all information about RoR like classes, equipment, changes from official etc. As everything concerning Return of Reckoning, the work on Wiki is volunteer work and is done during free time. Nevertheless I am quite proud of the work we did on RoR Wiki, even if there is still much work to be done, but we are doing our best for it to be as complete as it can be!
Contrary to Hammer Wiki, this wiki is not opened to anyone who wants to add/change information; only few of us have rights for it. However, you can obviously suggest things that would be missing or incorrect, in the forum part dedicated to RoR Wiki. We will do our best to add/correct things asap!
What can you find on RoR Wiki?
For example equipment available in game, information about Epic Quests, Public Quests, Changes from live, classes, everything about Tome of Knowledge. Explore it again and again to search information you want, and discover some others
I will also do a quick speech about Tome of Knowledge, for those who are interested in it. I am the DB dev in charge of ToK, and I finished implementing all ToK unlocks that could be implemented. The ones that are not working yet need new features or client control (yes once again!). I verified and completed the RoR Wiki about ToK (like Bestiary, Achievements...), you will find all ToK unlocks (even some that were not working on WAR), how to have them, and if they are working yet or not. As we have an access to whole ToK, we will be able to implement unlocks that have never been found/working on WAR, and maybe even create new unlocks and titles...
We will try to answer your questions if possible and try to manage later some Q&A on the RoR discord chan. More info to come about when.
Be assured, we do our best for this great project, but -and you know it, your expectations are high- and things take time. If we could fix everything in seconds, be assured this would be. It's not and there are probably reasons. Don't you think ? .
Most of you want more. Be assured we want and expect more than you. Always.
May we have a definitive statement around what scale/form of gameplay class balance will be discussed & conducted? It is a bit hazy to me and a few others.
For instance, will balance discussions be conducted assuming that class X is being played optimally in Z environment (be that in a warband, or a group)? Will issues brought forward concerning classes overperforming/underperforming, in a non-group environment/solo play, now be taken into account for balance discussion, and will pug/solo PoV now be deemed as important as group/wb scales?
I think this may be of particular importance to ascertain.
First things first:
Thank you very much - much luv <3.
As to what Peter brought up, long story short:
Spoiler:
Abstract versus circumstantial(subRR70, gear, yada yada)/perception(organized, pug, yada yada)-based balance?
[Abbd.: Note: The emphasis - for me - is on the subRR70 and variance in potency certain specs have to them and the significane of that in regards to balance decisions (sample size etc), rather than the other stuff - my apologies if it is a bit (too) provocative.
As to the gear-part:
Spoiler:
wargrimnir wrote:Marketplace using the new class-specific PvP currency. Trading trinkets for treasures and hidden gems for various rarities of items you might not get otherwise. This will tie in with the chapter vendors, as they will be selling their influence gear for PvP currency as well. Your currency bags will be very full. Rare vendors tucked away in the corners of the city will have fluctuating sales of rare items from time to time as well. (...)
1.) Is this currency meant to be tradeable only within the very 'market' of the respective class, or will the currency be tradeable from one class to another, so that people gotta exchange their goodies? To phrase it diffrently: Will this class-specific currency only be acquirable by the respective class, or will it drop left, right and center (but - as incentive/gating maybe - not for the respective class) for people to throw it on the AH to mix-and-match like say the Rare Fortune set?
Abbd.: TLDR: PvE-esque method of acquisition (get token, trade token with npc, get shiny) versus PvP-esque method of acquisition (get token, trade token with players, [trade token with npc], get shiny // get token, trade token with npc, get shiny, trade shiny with players, get your own shiny)?
2.) Is the part with the influence gear a hint at this very subset of gear being reworked in some way?
3.) Will there be fix shedules and pools (that can be figured out if one makes an effort to do so) for the 'fluctating' gear; will it be possible to plan ahead in one way or another, or will it be really up to RNG whether one gets a shot at an item or not (e.g. a certain item clogging up the vendors for weeks, whereas other items are rarely - if ever - acquirable)? I am asking that because...well, everything that is even remotely related to RNG will get people to throw a fit ~
E: Words and examples, yada yada.
Last edited by Darosh on Wed Aug 02, 2017 5:04 am, edited 10 times in total.
First off, thank you for making this available for free to all of us.
Secondly, excuse me for being annoying but is it planned to bring back the dok/wp experimental mode? If so, any eta? (before patcher deploy, after patcher deploy - we dont know?)
I don't want to be "that guy", but **** it. There's no ETA on Dungeons, pathing, or multiple instances. I understand why, but is there an expectation of completion? I figure there is based on the fact work is being done on it. And maybe I incorrectly remember Aza's statements on the pathing in RoR... But. Do you have confidence we will see a usable Pathing mechanic within, say, a dog's lifetime? #WantToLiveInGunbad #OnlyNeed1Instance Mine.
Thank you all so much for your work, time, and effort. Welcome to all the new Shiny Names! Keep your spirits up, and your ban-hammers handy.
Nothing to say other than: love the diary; thanks for the work you do and the feedback from the community you siphon through for the betterment of the game.
This is all so great! Thanks for update guys, i am hyped and excited!
Do i correctly understand that it'll be possible to buy Influence rewards with RvR currency? What about RvR Influence? Maybe epic quests as well?
TRANSMOG HYPE
peterthepan3 wrote:
For instance, will balance discussions be conducted assuming that class X is being played optimally in Z environment (be that in a warband, or a group)? Will issues brought forward concerning classes overperforming/underperforming, in a non-group environment/solo play, now be taken into account for balance discussion, and will pug/solo PoV now be deemed as important as group/wb scales?
I hope every environment/playstyle will be taken in consideration. Its harder than balancing classes for specific niches, but it'll keep the game fresh.
. You will find below all infos i have gathered about the project. Once again, you may find it blurry, but have tried to make it as clear and transparent as possible, according we are not professional team and trying our best to make this project better step by step.
). Its goal is to gather all information about RoR like classes, equipment, changes from official etc. As everything concerning Return of Reckoning, the work on Wiki is volunteer work and is done during free time. Nevertheless I am quite proud of the work we did on RoR Wiki, even if there is still much work to be done, but we are doing our best for it to be as complete as it can be!
